Means for producing screen negatives



y H. A. GROESBECK, JR 2,123,830

MEANS FOR PRODUCING SCREEN NEGATIVES Filed Dec. 7, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l T i' 4 g 0 INVENTOR HARRY A. Geosssacx JR- r v 1 I /6 RNEY Patented July 12, 1938 2,123,830

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR. PRODUCING SCREEN NEGATIVES Harry A. Groesbeck, Jr., Chappaqua, N. Y., as-

signor to Sterling Engraving Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 7, 1935, Serial No. 53,291

3 Claims. (Cl. 95-64) My invention relates to photo-mechanical ments to be given the screen in order to effect processes and apparatus and. particularly to a proper registry or disregistry (as the case may means for producing improved screen-negatives be) of the dots on the, negative are so slight as such as are used in the production of half-tone to be difficult or impossible of accurate control.

5 or photo-lithographic plates and the like. The principal object of the present invention 5 In the production of half-tone blocks or plates therefore is to improve the quality,- detail, or from a photograph, picture or other object, the tone of,half-tone negatives and the like by subsensitized plate or film is exposed in the camera jecting the negative to a supplementary exposure with a ruled glass cross-line screen quite close to or exposures of the light beams passing through 0 and in front of it, and the object is photographed the screen after they have been decentralized or through this screen, to produce what is termed displaced from their original position. By thus a screen negative. This photographic negative displaci d n a ne the light beams of the object being made through the little clear after the first exposure, I am enabled to place squares of the screen, reproduces the tones-of the a second series- 'of dots n he neg v in y object, b th light and dark, by innumerable dots, desired relation to the dots produced by the first 15 the size and proximity of which are governed by xp sur I may therefore n as the number the tones of the object and the fineness or coarseof dots made by a ve Screen or make em o ness of the screen used. The chief objection to any shape desired. For example, if I am using this process is its inability to reproduce fine a screen having 50 lines per inch or 2500 opendetail and'extremes of expression in black and ings per square inch, and I displace the light white. The reproduction of actual white is imbeam an amount equalto one-half the distance possible except by subsequent manipulations and between lines, the second series of dots will fall delicate details are destroyed by the cross lines exactly between the first series or on those porof the screen which tone down all light passages tions of the nega t t were Covered D 25.and deprive the half-tone reproduction of the tected by the shadows cast by the screen lines brilliancy and high lights that characterized the du ng t fi st p sur the d ts o p ts. of original object. True high lights and other the negative that were exposed during the first tones can be produced only by the addition of 7 exposure being in tu P c d 0 Covered y hand engraving to touch up the final blocks or the screen line shadows during the second explates, but the cost of this touching-up is'so p ur n he will be le h number 30 great as tobeprohibitive except in the very finest 5,0 PIOdllCed, a of which l e much reproductions. smaller than the original, dots so that the details,

The quality of the half-tone prints depends lights and tones will be much clearer. The supprimarily upon the shape, fineness and proximity plem nta y e p sur of u s s 'sufl i n of the dots or lines, the finer the dots, the clearer short, be determined y e Sensitiveness 0f 35 the detail, as a rule. The number of dots prothe plate, so that only the high lights are afiected duced per square inch of negative depends of and the dark parts of the object show little or course upon the screen, and screens commonly no change on the negative. I attain this by disare used which vary from-50 lines per inch or placin th l ns apertu in a p an at right 40 2500 openings per square inch to as high as 300 angles tothe light beam or parallel to the screen 40 lines per inch or 90,000 squares per square inch. and plate. The effect of this displacement or But regardlessof how fine the screen, dots always Tdecentralization of the aperture is to tilt the light appear on the high lights, and actual white canbeams about the screen as a fulcrum. Since ,the not be reproduced, except by hand work or ap rture is a long distance from the screen as touching up of the'negative or printing block, or compared to the distance of the negative from 45 other supplementary operations, the screen, varying in some cases from 40 to 1 Heretofore, attempts have been made to in- 1 up to 80 to 1 with the usual cameras, I can very crease the number of dots produced through a accurately control the decentralization of the screen of stated mesh or to wipe out entirely the light a d ause it to affect thehegative in dots in the high lights by shifting the screen any desired place with relation to the first, or 50 during exposure, this being possible, theoretiprimary exposure. Also, the diaphragm apercally, because 01 the controlled sensitiveness of ture can be displaced in any direction with rethe emulsion on the photographic plate to lights spect to the screen, as vertical, horizontal, or at of varying intensities. But inpractice it has not any angle, and by overlapping the exposures, in

been found satisfactory chiefly because the move varying degrees, I can produce many patterns or 5 designs of dots. When the dots formed by the decentralized supplementary exposures are of suiflcient size that each covers up the unexposed areas of the original high lights, then they will be completely blocked out in the white areas on the blocks or plates and actual white will be produced. I Many other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in this art and need not be specifically pointed out, but I claim as my invention all uses andadvantages of which the invention is capable.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings wherein I have illustrated one form of apparatus for carrying out the process of-the invention and shown by diagram how the light beams may be decentralized for supplementary exposures;

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of a conventional camera with means for shifting the dens aperture with respect to the screen and plate;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the lens barrel and aperture-shifting attachment;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of Fig. 2 taken on the line 3 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing how the decentralized rays of light pass through the screen and affect thenegative.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show half-tone negatives produced by the usual method of fixed aperture exposures, using an aperture and screen of given dimensions or size. Y,

Figs. 6A, 7A and 8A are views of the negative of Figs. 6, 7 and 8 respectively, showing how the high light sections are affected by .a supplementary exposure with the aperture shifted.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3, it! indicates a camera in which the plate or negative l I is placed just in the rear of the ruled glass screen it. The lens 13 is mounted in the lens barrel It in which the slide or diaphragm it, having apertures of fixed diameter, is mounted to slide transversely, the lens barrel being rotatable with respect to the screen angle and camera. Light rays indica'ted'at 5,16 pass from the object ll through the lens and aperture It in the slide and thence through the clear interstices of the screen 82 to the negative II. ,Each clear space on the screen i2 is in 'efiect a lens-by means of which the aperture in the slide I5 is photographed onto the plate ll, there'being as many. negatives made of the aperture in a given area asthere are clear spaces or open squares on the screen. .If the aperture l8 in the slide be ,rourid,-'then, of course, the reproductions on the plate or'film are of the same shape and are -'spaced,-'center'to center, as determined b .the'fineness of the screen.

In order to be able toshift the-aperture is in definite ,contro'lled' relationship with respect to the screen l2 and negativeil, and place the dots of the supplementary exposures .in the exact predetermined places desired on the negative, I have provided the shifter indicated generally at i9 in Fig. 1 and shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. This shifter comprises ,a frame 20 and is secured to the lens barrel by the clamp 2 l which holds it rigidly but permits the frame to be rotated with respect to the screen and shift the slide vertically or horizontally or at any intermediate angle. The frame 20 has a guide 22 fixed to its upper end in which the rod 23 is slidably mounted. At its lower end, this .rod is slotted and clamped to the diaphragm slide i5 by-a screw 25, while at its upper end it is graduated to provide a scale 25, which may he graduated in fractions of an inch masses or any other lineal standard, but preferably the graduations are equal to the pitch of the screw 26 on the rod, which engages in a knurled nut 21 that is threaded throughout its length. The rod 23 is of reduced diameter at both sides of the screw threads 26 so that it may pass freely through the nut 21. The lower end of the nut 2'! is divided into a number of equally spaced graduations 2d and the guide 22 has an index 29 so that the amount of rotation of the nut 21 can be determined. Preferably the scale 25 is located on I the roddd'so that the top line of the scale registers with the top of thenut 2'! and the zero gradnation of the nut registers with the index 29 when the aperture 58 is centralized. ow if the nut 27 be rotated so as to raise the re 28 and slide IS, the aperture will be decentralized the same distance that the scale 25 extends above the nut 21. Thus, if the scale 25 be graduated in sixteenths oi an inch, the screw 28 be sixteen pitch, and there be eight divisions on the nut"2l, the slide will be moved one-sixteenth oi. an inch for each complete turn or the nut and the displacement of the aperture can be very accurately determined.

Referring now to Fig. i, It indicates the aperture from which the light beams it pass through the clear spaces oi the screen L2 to the plate or negative ilowhereon they produce spaced images of the aperture at 30. It now the photographic plate be left in the camera and the aperture shifted a ance A to the point it for a supplementary exposure, the beams of light it will be tilted about the screen id as a fulcrum until they occupy'their position at i6 and they will produce the images 30' onwthe plate between the original images 30. This supplementary exposure is relatively short, the interval being determined by the sensitiveness of the emulsion on the plate and the eiiect that is desired. It will be short enough so that only the strong light from the high lights of the object is eflective and the dark shades are not aiiected. The distance A that the aperture is shilted isdetermined mathematically from the mown distances of the screen i2 from the plate H and from the aperture IS; the fineness oi the screen and the amount of displacement desired oi the dots on the second exposure. When this distance is determined, either by computation or from a prepared table of settings, the graduated nut 2'! permits the aperture to be decentralized the exact amount required. In Fig. 4,

the aperture has been decentralized a distance so as to place the images or dots 8E3 exactly between the images 80.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4, except that the, aperture it has been shifted to It a distance B which shifts the images 30' so that, they overlap the images 89 to some extent.

onthe negative by the usual half-tone processfor fixed aperture exposure through a screen by the light from the high lights or white parts of the object. When these are reproduced on the hair'- tone block or plate, the images 36 are the etched out parts and the shaded parts 8i correspond to the dots in the high lights on the final print.

Now if this negative ll of Fig. 6 be exposed a second time for a very short interval, with an aperture of proper size and which is decentralized the proper distance, a second set of images 30' can be placed on the plate I l exactly'between the images 30 and'completely wipe out the spaces 3| as shown in Fig. 6A. When the printing plate the dots. Fig. 7 shows a plate II that has been exposed through a screen to produce the spaced images 30. Fig. 7A shows the same negative after a supplementary exposure with the images 30' placed exactly between the images 30 so that the continuous space 3| between them is divided into a large number ofspaces 3| which will produce a like number of dots on the'finished print.

Figs. 8 and 8A show how the continuous space 3l between the images" may betransformed into spaced continuous scrolls 3| by using a smaller aperture for the second expomre and decentralizing it angularly with respect to the first exposure so as to produce small images ll angularly between the images 30, this angular displacement being secured by turning the lens barrel ll which is rotatably mounted in the front wall ll of the bellows extension of the camera, as shown in Fig. 1.-

Thus by the double exposure of Fig. 6A. 1' completely blot out the dots from the high lights of the finished half-tone, and in Fig. IA, I increase the number of high light dots which is emential in bringing out details of the object, and at the same time decrease the total area of all the high light dots without affecting the shadows. In Fig. 8A I illustrate one way in which the form of the half-tone dots may be changed, as well as their value or size.

While I have referred to the screen It as a ruled glass screen or half-tone screen, it will be understood that this is but one type of screen .that may be used and any reticulated screen adapted for the purpose may be used in place of the ruled glass. screen. Also, the supplemental exposure is not limited to one, but in some cases 1 subject the plate to two, three or even four supplemental exposures, the number varying with the intensity of the light, the character of the object, effect to be produced and other factors.

From the above illustrations, which are but descriptive of the invention and not limitations thereof, it will be apparent that my improved method may be carried out in many other ways and by other apparatus than that herein specifically disclosed, and that by proper selection of ,possible of attainment by any known process,

and with coarse screens I can produce much better results than have generally been produced heretofore with much finer screens.

Having thus described my invention, I claim all modifications, adaptations and equivalents thereof that come within the scope of my claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a camera, the combination of a lens barrel having a lens that is co-axial therewith, a slide extending through a slot in the lens barrel and havingan aperture of fixed size that normally is centrally located with respect to the common axis'of the lens and barrel, a frame supported by the lens barrel, a rod secured to said slide and extending through said frame, .an adjusting nut on said frame engaging said rod to move it with respect to the frame and to displace laterally the slide with respect to the axis of the lens, a scale on said nut and rod whereby to measm-e the lateral displacement of the slide and its aperture with respect to the axis of the lens.

2. In a camera, the combination of a. lens. barrel having a lens that is co-axial therewith, a slide extending through a slot in the lens barrel and having an aperture of fixed size that normally is centrally located with respect to the common axis of the lens and barrel, a frame supportedbythelensbarrel,arodsecuredtosaid slide and extending through said frame, an adjusting nut on said frame engaging said rod to move it with respect to the frame and to displace laterally the slide with respect to the axis of the lens, a scale on said nut and rod whereby to measure the lateral displacement of the slide and its aperture with respect to the axis of the lens,

and means to the slide and aperture angularly with respect to the axis of the lens.

3. Inscameraofthetypeadaptedtoreceivea sensitised plate. a lens barrelhaving a single lens mountedcoaxial therein, a single slide mounted toslideinsaidbarrelandhaving anaperture thatnormallyiscentrallylocated withrespect to the axis of the lens and barrel, a half-tone screen mounted in the camera between the lens and plate, means for moving the slide in the barreltoshifttheaperture laterally with respect to the center of the lens and barrel and ,means for meaning the amount of lateral displacement whereby the image formed through the displaced aperture may be made to fall in a predetermined position with respect to another image formed on a plate previously exposed with the aperture in central position.-

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